Don't Run Out of Space: How to Move PC Games to a Different Hard Drive (2024)

SSDs have gotten bigger, but so have games—Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was over 200GB at launch, which doesn’t leave room for much else on a modestly sized disk. If you’re willing to give up some of those super-fast loading times, you can move some of your games to a secondary hard drive with more space without re-downloading them.

Some game clients, like Steam, have built-in features that allow you to move your games from one location to another. Others, like the Epic Games Store, require a little finesse to move a game’s files. Here’s how to do it on the most popular launchers.

Steam: Add a New Library Folder

There’s a good chance most of your digital collection resides in Steam, which thankfully makes it easy to move your games. From the main window, head to Steam > Settings in the upper-left corner and go to the Downloads tab in the sidebar. Select Steam Library Folders at the top of the new window to open the Storage Manager.

Click the + icon next to your current drive and choose your secondary install location.Hit Add, and the new folder will appear next to your first drive. Now, when you go to install a new game, you’ll be given a choice between your pre-selected library folders. I put the games I’m currently playing on my SSD, with the games I occasionally re-visit on my slower, spinning hard disk.

To move a game you currently have installed, return to the Storage Manager and select the games. Click Move, then choose the correct Steam folder and click Move again. This may take a bit of time if the game’s files take up a lot of space. When it's done, Steam will launch the game normally without a hiccup.

Note that you may need to do a bit of extra work if you have custom mods installed, but for most titles, it’s that easy. Check out our list of the best Steam tips for more.

GOG Galaxy: Move the Folder and Reinstall

GOG Galaxy aims to be a one-stop shop for all your game libraries, but it also allows you to download and install games from GOG.com. You can change where games are installed, but there is no built-in button to move downloaded games to a new folder.

Click the gear icon in the top-left corner and open Settings > Installing, updating and select Game installation folder. Choose your preferred location and future games will be saved here. We can also manipulate this feature to move downloaded games to a new location.

To move a game, turn to File Explorer and navigate to GOG Galaxy’s installation folder, the default being C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games. Right-click on the folder containing the game in question, then cut and paste the folder to your new location—say, D:\Games\GOG—and wait for the files to copy over.

When that’s done, open GOG Galaxy, right-click on the game, and choose Manage Installation > Uninstall. You’ll get an error telling you it couldn’t uninstall the game, but that’s okay.

Click on the game again to install it, and when it asks you where you want it installed, choose the folder where you copied the game files (in our example, D:\Games\GOG). It will begin installing the game, realize the files are already there, and the installation will complete very quickly, without re-downloading the files a second time.

EA: Move the Folder and Reinstall

EA has phased out the Origin Launcher in favor of its new EA app. While the new service promises faster download speeds, updates and the ability to communicate with friends across different platforms, EA is missing Origin's extremely useful Move Games option to let you transfer game files within the client.

To move pre-installed games, you will need to move the game files in the same way we did with GOG Galaxy. Navigate to EA's install location (C:\Program Files\EA Games\ by default) and cut and paste the necessary files to a new location.

After this is done, you will need to open Settings > Download in the EA app and change the install directory in the settings. Click Edit next to Install location and choose your new destination. When you download a game, you will be prompted to locate the game files and tell the client the new folder destination.

Epic Games: Trick the Store Into Resuming a Finished Download

The Epic Games launcher is one of the more annoying stores with which to move games. If you wanted to move the installation directory, the only official way to make the change would be to uninstall the launcher and reinstall it at the new destination. Epic also won’t install a game to an existing folder, so to move games already installed on your machine, be prepared for a complicated process.

You will need to find the folder where your game of choice is currently installed (like C:\Program Files\Epic Games\Fortnite) and copy the files manually. Place them in a different location for safe keeping, then return to the Epic Games launcher and find the game in your library.

Click the three dots next to the game, and choose Uninstall to remove the original game file. Return to the game in your library and re-install it, choosing the preferred destination. Allow the download to start, then cancel the installation.

Head over to your preferred location (like D:\Games\Epic\Fortnite) and move the copied files into this folder. Go back to the Epic launcher and click on the game in question to resume the download. It should see your files on the drive, verify that they’re all there, and finish installing the game without downloading anything.

Blizzard Battle.net: Move the Files, Then Redirect the Launcher

For games using Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher, such as Diablo Immortal, you’ll need to move the files yourself, then direct Battle.net to the new location. So head to your Battle.net games directory—C:\Program Files (x86) by default—and cut and paste the game folder to your desired location on the new drive.

Now open Battle.net and click Settings > Game Settings, then choose the game you wish to move and click Use a Different Folder. Navigate to where you moved the files on your new drive, and you should be good to go. Battle.net will verify the integrity of the files, and you’ll be able to play the game from its new location without re-downloading.

You can change the destination of all future games from Settings > Downloads. Click the Change button next to Default Install Directory and choose your preferred location.

Ubisoft Connect: Move the Files, Then Redirect the Launcher

Ubisoft Connect is similar to Battle.net: to move a game, you have to move the actual files using File Explorer. So find the game directory in question (by default, it’ll be under C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\games) and copy it to your new drive. Delete the folder from its old location.

Open the launcher, then right-click the game in question and choose Uninstall. Once the game has been marked as uninstalled, right-click the game and choose View Game Details. Under the Download button for the game, click Locate Installed Game and direct the launcher to your game’s new location. The launcher should detect all the game's files and allow you to play without re-downloading.

Xbox App: Tell the Launcher to Move the Game

The Xbox PC app makes it easy to move games to a new folder or a separate drive by essentially doing the job for you. All you have to do is tell it where to redirect your games. For all games, head to Settings > General and click Change Folder under the Game Install Options section to choose a new folder.

The app is selective about which folders it will accept, so I had to use an empty C:\New Folder for it to work. Note that previously installed games will also move to the new destination. You may also wish to keep Ask me for install options on every install checked so you can change things up as needed.

Individual games can easily be moved to a new drive. Find the title in the app's Installed sidebar, click the three-dot menu, and select the Files tab. Choose Change Drive and select the destination, then click Move to finalize.

For certain games that support the ability to be moved to a separate folder on the same drive, you should see an Advanced Management Features option from the General tab. Click Enable, and you will be able to move the game to a different folder.

Microsoft Store: Move Games From Windows’ Settings

For all the hate Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform games have gotten in the past, they’re very easy to move to a new drive or folder. To do so, head to Settings > Apps > Apps & Features in Windows and find the game in the list. Choose the entry (or click the three-dot icon in Windows 11) and click the Move button.

This will let you move the game to any drive—not any folder, mind you—but at least you can get it off your SSD and onto another drive where space isn’t quite so precious.

No Other Options Exist? Create a Symbolic Link

Most launchers should allow a process similar to the above if you want to move your games. If it doesn’t, there’s one last-ditch option you can try: symbolic links. A symbolic link is kind of like a shortcut, except your computer will treat the shortcut as if it’s the actual folder it’s pointing to, so the game files won’t know the difference.

I've yet to encounter a modern game that requires this, but it's how we used to do things before Steam added the ability to have multiple library folders. It may come in handy in certain situations.

Let's say we’re moving a game from C:\Program Files\MyAwesomeGame to D:\Games\MyAwesomeGame. Just move the MyAwesomeGame folder, then right-click the Start menu and choose Command Prompt (Admin). Run the following command:

You’ll see a shortcut-looking icon appear in the original folder, pointing to the new location. The game won’t even be able to tell the difference, meaning it should hopefully launch without trouble—and you can reclaim that much-needed space on your SSD.

Francisco Lahoz contributed to this story.